Abstract
IntroductionVisceral larva migrans is a syndrome caused by an infection with larval helminths, which may result in partial or general pathological changes in host tissues. Due to the difficulty in finding the causative parasites, the diagnosis of visceral larva migrans is generally based on compatible clinical signs, epidemic history, marked eosinophilia and pathological examination, especially positive serological test results and the disappearance of symptoms after specific treatment.Case presentationWe report here the case of a 21-year-old Chinese man who, having ingested living earthworms and geckos at a witch’s suggestion, presented with fatigue and wordlessness lasting for one year along with elevated transaminase levels for one month. Clinical examination showed eosinophilia, elevated transaminase levels, nodular lesions in his liver and typical pathological characteristics of hepatic visceral larva migrans. After four courses of anthelmintic therapy, our patient presented with sustaining improvement of clinical manifestations and normalization of laboratory data.ConclusionsBecause of the difficulty in making a definite diagnosis, anthelmintic therapy should be performed in patients with a suspected diagnosis of visceral larva migrans based on their epidemic history and presence of typical manifestations, especially when the serological test results are negative. Furthermore, patients with severe parasite infection may require multiple anthelmintic therapies in order to eliminate the parasites.
Highlights
Visceral larva migrans is a syndrome caused by an infection with larval helminths, which may result in partial or general pathological changes in host tissues
Because of the difficulty in making a definite diagnosis, anthelmintic therapy should be performed in patients with a suspected diagnosis of visceral larva migrans based on their epidemic history and presence of typical manifestations, especially when the serological test results are negative
Visceral larva migrans (VLM) is a syndrome caused by an infection with larval helminths
Summary
We present the case of a patient suspected of having VLM involving his liver, resulting from earthworm and gecko ingestion. Cianferoni A, Schneider L, Schantz PM, Brown D, Fox LM: Visceral larva migrans associated with earthworm ingestion: clinical evolution in an adolescent patient. Doi:10.1186/1752-1947-6-210 Cite this article as: Yu et al.: Visceral larva migrans associated with earthworm and gecko ingestion: a case report. Author details 1Department of Gastroenterology, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yatsen University, 107 Yan Jiang Xi Road, Guangzhou 510120, People’s Republic of China.
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